Amended plans for a 50+ patient secure mental health unit for Wiveliscombe that proved highly controversial in the town when first submitted 18 months ago are back on the table.
Officials at Taunton Deane received cores of objections from residents, businesses and civic groups when they were first published in the autumn of 2011. The re-submitted application reads as follows:
“Erection of two health care facilities comprising of a 28 bedroomed locked rehabilitation unit (C2A) and a 28 bedroomed low secure facility (C2A) with associated access and works at Wiveliscombe Business Park, Wiveliscombe”
Issues raised by objectors ranged from safety issues for residents vis-à-vis patients with “challenging behaviour” to the effect on patients of the adjacent abattoir. The almost unanimous degree of opposition to the project within Wiveliscombe is certain to make even modified plans a hotly contested issue.